# launch

> English word · Verb · IPA /lɔːnt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #2,079

## Definitions
1. To throw (a projectile such as a lance, dart or ball); to hurl; to propel with force.
2. To pierce with, or as with, a lance.
3. To cause (a vessel) to move or slide from the land or a larger vessel into the water; to set afloat.
4. To cause (a rocket, balloon, etc., or the payload thereof) to begin its flight upward from the ground.
5. To send out; to start (someone) on a mission or project; to give a start to (something); to put in operation
6. To start (a program or feature); to execute or bring into operation.
7. To release; to put onto the market for sale
8. Of a ship, rocket, balloon, etc.: to depart on a voyage; to take off.
9. To move with force and swiftness like a sliding from the stocks into the water; to plunge; to begin.
10. To start to operate.

## Etymology
From Middle English launchen (“to throw as a lance”), Old French lanchier, another form (Old Northern French/Norman variant, compare Jèrriais lanchi) of lancier, French lancer, from lance.

## Easily confused with
- **lunch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/launch-vs-lunch)
- **lynch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/launch-vs-lynch)
- **lurch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/launch-vs-lurch)
- **launched** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/launch-vs-launched)
- **launcher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/launch-vs-launcher)
- **laugh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/laugh-vs-launch)
- **lance** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lance-vs-launch)
- **latch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-launch)

## Common misspellings (9)
`alunch`, `lanuch`, `laucnh`, `launcch`, `launchh`, `launhc`, `launnch`, `llaunch`, `luanch`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/launch